Madurai witness gold rush after prices fall

The gold rush on Sunday pleasantly surprised jewellers across the city when customers thronged the shops from morning to make purchases. Though it was a Sunday, jewellers said they received on an average 15 customers till evening, which was “pretty unusual”.TNN | July 27, 2015, 14:06 IST

The gold rush on Sunday pleasantly surprised jewellers across the city when customers thronged the shops from morning to make purchases. Though it was a Sunday, jewellers said they received on an average 15 customers till evening, which was “pretty unusual”.MADURAI: The gold rush on Sunday pleasantly surprised jewellers across the city when customers thronged the shops from morning to make purchases. Though it was a Sunday, jewellers said they received on an average 15 customers till evening, which was “pretty unusual”.

On Saturday too, many shops in the city had to keep their shutters open till late at night because of the rush.

With the price of the yellow metal beginning to fall compared with last week, customers felt it was the right time to go for the yellow metal. On Sunday, the price of one gram of gold (22 karat) was Rs 2,377 (the rate was the same on Saturday). The price was Rs 2,344 on July 24.

“The price of gold for tomorrow cannot be predicted, so we are making our purchases today. Compared to last week, the price of gold has come down gradually and this is the right time to make some purchases,” said A Santhulakshmi, a housewife in Madurai.

The jewellers said many customers were making bulk purchases of over 40 grams to use the gold during occasions like marriages. “We have a marriage in our family next month. So we are purchasing gold in bulk today. It makes good sense to buy now, we can save a lot (of money),” added another customer.

The continuous gold rush has left jewellers surprised, since they were expecting the rush after the ‘Aadi Masam’ gets over next month. “After the Aadi Masam, there is an always a gold rush since customers feel that it is an auspicious month to purchase gold. But this gold rush brought good profit to us before the prices shoot up again,” said the manager of a popular jewellery shop here.